Writers Strike

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When folks in my industry talked about the impending TV Writers strike, a few weeks back, I thought it was a bit hokey.

But after thinking about it, now that the Writer’s strike is on – I get it.

As a writer, we tend to get paid based on the readership and the money that the publication, production, or company makes from our work. Even in the problogging world you can see this – more traffic and more readership often means more advertisement and more money.

The TV Writers want to be compensated for their work appearing in DVDs and internet media. The production companies want to keep the money they make from DVDs, iTunes purchases, and other new media.

So, there’s a standoff.

The networks are saying that they’re not making money off of DVDs, webisodes, downloads, and iTunes purchases. But, I would wager that’s not entirely true.

Sounds a bit similar to the beef between the recording industry, internet radio, and the artists. The truth of the matter is, artists often don’t receive extra royalties – the majority goes to the production company rather than back to the artist.